Chapter 23 - Found It! The Hidden Piece
Aron relentlessly targeted me.
F*ck, I had nothing to do with this.
On the other hand, Kain desperately protected me.
His blade would block Aron's attacks, predicting where he would strike as if by magic.
It seemed the two of them were more than just close.
So what was I doing?
Looking for an angle, of course.
This wasn't my fight in the first place.
It was someone else's family feud, to the point where I'd feel more invested in fighting the Demon King.
But I needed something.
If Kain died here, I would never find the hidden piece.
To go through all this trouble and have to retreat with nothing to show for it.
I couldn't let that happen.
What I needed was an opening for Aron to back off, even for a single moment.
It was time to play my trump card.
"Dagger Storm!"
Previously, it had merely been enough to get rid of his nine daggers, but this was no longer a one-on-one fight.
The Dagger Storm raged more fiercely than before.
The blue mana became sharp blades, and the blades became a rain.
The rain became death and poured down on Aron, and it seemed like something no human could block.
"N-no, you mustn't!"
"Rushing the fight, are we? You amateur."
It was strange.
I had aimed and aimed, and used the necessary ability at the optimal timing.
But the moment I used the skill this time, I again felt that sense of 'oops.'
It was seeing Aron's cold smile, which he only showed at the exact moment I was aiming for.
"Rage on, Nine Poison Fangs!"
Nine green tails sprouted from Aron's back.
The nine tails moved as freely as living creatures, striking down all the daggers I had fired.
This time, I couldn't even offset all nine of his poison fangs. Three fangs remained.
Those fangs closed in on my throat.
"Assassins always end up throwing something, don't they?"
"Damn it!"
I swung my sword reflexively.
I batted away one dagger and dodged another.
But I couldn't dodge the last one.
I had no choice.
I had to trust the Mithril armor.
However, that sword never reached me.
It was because Kain had sacrificed an arm to block the dagger in my stead.
"Kuaaack!"
"Ah, mister. Your arm..."
Kain did not proceed to place a straw hat on my head.
There was only the fountain of gushing blood and its metallic smell.
"Keuk keuk. My, my. To think the infamous Guardian of the Shadows, Kain, would be taken down so easily. And because of an amateur who only knows how to ambush."
"That amateur deceived you with that ambush alone, brother. That in itself makes him a fine being."
"So what will you do now? Will you fight with only one arm and while carrying baggage?"
"Hey. Who are you calling baggage?"
My chest throbbed.
To the point where I couldn't concentrate at all.
And yet, my reasoning became sharper.
Rankol's sword was shining more brilliantly than ever before.
[Hunter's Senses]
[Forgets pain and concentrates on the hunt. All senses except for pain become extremely sensitive.]
The atmosphere changed.
Both sides had used a big skill.
But I had become faster, so Aron was also flustered.
While keeping Aron in check, I spoke to Kain.
"You still have the strength to run?"
"I have that much left, but it will be difficult to shake him off. It would be better to fight with all our strength now..."
"Forget it, just be ready to run on my signal."
I ran forward.
Double Step, Poisoned Blade, Decoy, Smoke Bomb.
Even Dagger Storm had failed.
It seemed like I had no moves left, but I had learned something.
That his attacks were always focused on counterattacking.
He was cautiously blocking and enduring my attacks, looking for an opening.
'I didn't know before, but I know now. Why he's just standing there like that.'
For the assassin class, a pre-emptive strike is a guaranteed win.
The reason he was only counterattacking was simple.
That bastard, even in this situation, he was still afraid of me.
He was being overly cautious of my presence that he couldn't feel.
The way to deal with a guy who's scared I might hide at any moment is to, on the contrary, not hide.
I gave up on big attacks.
Rankol's sword in my right hand, a dagger in my left.
To react to his versatile attacks, I needed at least this much.
Even if it meant blocking with the Mithril armor if worse came to worst.
"Now, shall we go fishing?"
Of course, it was a strange kind of fishing where I was the bait, and I was also the fishing rod.
When I pretended to pull back, Aron would rush to follow.
When I aimed for that opening and counterattacked, even Aron couldn't dodge it so easily.
In fact, my blade drew closer and closer to Aron, and the collar of his clothes was sliced open.
"Keuk, you bastard!"
"What's wrong? As if you're flustered by an amateur."
For the first time, the initiative had shifted to me.
I had no intention of letting it go.
I would approach as if I were backing away, and back away as if I were approaching.
Was it a sign that my plan was working perfectly?
Finally, Aron showed an opening.
This was the moment I had been waiting for.
"This is the end, you trash."
I took one step forward.
"Keuk keuk. An amateur with no ability to learn. Die, blaming your own shortcomings."
"Bullshit."
As soon as I took a step, Aron corrected his posture.
"How many times do you think I'll fall for that?"
From here on out was the attack I had really prepared.
I immediately took two steps back.
"You bastard!"
"Too late. Smoke Bomb!"
"Tch!"
Aron hurriedly tried to break through the smoke.
"I knew you'd do that."
A single sword that had already left my hand.
The sword I had been holding in my left hand aimed for Aron's brow.
No matter how trained a person is, they are bound to close their eyes against an attack heading for their face.
A fleeting attack.
An unexpected moment.
Aron, who had blinked for a single instant, could only chase after the smoke bomb.
"Where are you! Where! How dare you mock this Aron. I will teach you that an ambush will never work!"
"Bullshit."
No one has ever detected my ambush.
Not that Rankol.
Not even that Crokes.
I gripped Rankol's sword.
But this time, a completely unexpected person stopped me.
"Now is the time. We must flee immediately!"
"What are you talking about? Now is the best time to attack."
"Brother Aron's power does not end here. We cannot win just by obscuring his vision. Not me now, and not you."
"As if you know what I'm capable of."
"This pathetic smoke! I will blow it all away! Cry! Basilisk's Fangs!"
A sinister green energy rose and for an instant took the form of a giant snake.
The next moment, the smoke and the surrounding space were torn away and vanished.
If Kain hadn't pulled me out, I would not have been unharmed.
"Let's go."
I immediately ran after Kain.
"If we decided to run, can't you go a little faster? If we get caught like this, we're all dead."
"I'm sorry. It seems this is as far as I go."
"Hey, don't be like that. Being in a tough spot is better than dyi… heek!"
I couldn't continue. Kain's lips had turned from blue to purple.
It seemed Aron's green dagger had been coated in poison.
F*ck, am I going to be in trouble too?
"Don't worry too much. Brother Aron's poison only activates on a direct hit. Cough, cough."
"Don't you have a potion? Or can't you push out the poison with mana?"
"Hahaha. Such a thing is impossible. Even if it were possible, it's not something that can be done while being chased."
Kain tightly bound his severed arm.
In his other hand, he clutched a dagger, as if he intended to fight here.
"I will block him here. Benefactor, please return to my tavern, the Moon Shadow, right now."
"Are you crazy, we just barely escaped, and you want me to go back there?"
"Brother Aron's tracking skills were the best among us. We can't erase our tracks right now, so we will be caught. It is better for you to go back while I buy time."
I was planning to run to the lord's castle.
Valtes didn't know about my change of heart.
He would welcome me, and in this situation, it would be the safest place.
"The item Brother Aron is looking for is in the Moon Shadow. If it's you, Benefactor, you will surely be able to obtain it."
'F*ck, I have to go, don't I?'
I didn't expect to get it so easily, but I also didn't expect to get it with such difficulty. An item that required someone's life as payment, and one that I had to risk my own life for.
But I didn't fall into useless sentimentalism.
Whether I took the item or not, Kain was going to die. If that was the case, it was better to at least get proper revenge.
"If you can, stay alive. Revenge is always best served in person."
"Of course. I will be waiting."
I hope you survive.
The camaraderie of a comrade-in-arms with whom I had shed no blood flashed by briefly.
I turned my steps into the darkness.
"F*ck, seriously. Goddess, you damn bitch. Hidden piece, my ass."
It was a mess.
Aron suddenly aiming for my life, and Kain on the verge of death.
The desire to just get a hidden piece and get stronger comfortably had long since vanished.
Now, if I don't find it, I die.
It was a fight for my life.
The Moon Shadow was dark.
So dark you would believe it was the darkest place in the world.
The goddess's prophecy seemed to have foreseen this very moment.
Behind the bar, evenly spaced liquor bottles. It seemed like there was no rule, but there was a rule of its own.
I rearranged the bottles. Following the order Kain had told me.
The largest bottle, the smallest bottle, the thinnest bottle, and the fattest bottle.
When I pushed the bottles in order, the floor opened up, revealing another set of stairs.
In cartoons or adventure movies, people would carefully descend into spaces like this, but I had no time for that.
A poison-wielding assassin was chasing me from behind right now.
I was in a hurry, so what did I care for caution or weight?
If this hidden piece turned out to be nothing special, I would have to run straight to the lord's castle.
At least in Valtes's castle, I wouldn't be easily assassinated.
The space below the stairs was larger than the entire tavern.
But there was no refreshing feeling of an open space.
Only an unknown ominousness and gloom lingered.
A jet-black, alien energy, different from the blue mana.
In the center, an object sealed in a navy-blue cloth that looked like a talisman was visible.
"Is this it?"
The old talisman crumbled away as soon as my hand touched it. What was revealed from within was a dagger.
'Damn it, is it a dud?'
If it was a dagger, I already had the Hunter's Fang.
This sword also seemed extraordinary, but it was a shame to have two of the same type of item.
Still, I had to check which one was better.
"...!?"
The moment I gripped the sword, a navy-blue energy surged.
The energy burst out from the sword and wrapped around me, and soon, the change spread in a way that was impossible not to know.
[An unknown power is invading.]
[An unknown power is severing the blessing.]
[An unknown power is resisting the goddess's power.]
[Warning! Move away from the unknown power.]
[Warning! Warning! Danger....]
It was noise.
I don't know how the noise you only get on a TV could get into my head, but my whole mind was filled with static.
My head hurt as if it would break, and at the same time, a sound I had never heard before echoed in my head.
—Finally! Finally, this body has awakened.
"Keoheok!"
I dropped the dagger right then and there.